The natriuretic peptide and renin-angiotensin systems are physiological counterparts with opposite roles in the regulation of electrolyte balance and blood pressure. In both systems, membrane-bound, zinc-dependent peptidases play an important role in the inactivation or activation of the system. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) converts angiotensin I into angiotensin II, and neutral ...

Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition has been reported to induce regression of hypertrophy in several models of hemodynamic pressure overload. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the ACE inhibitor captopril can reduce hypertrophy of the left ventricle induced by a chronic volume overload and modify collagen ...

Angiotensin receptor blockers are a new class of agents that have made a major contribution to the treatment of hypertension. These agents effectively reduce blood pressure and are well tolerated. Other clinical trials have focused, however, on the much wider use of angiotensin receptor blockers in conditions such as congestive ...

Two pilot studies for prescription-event monitoring in Japan (J-PEM) were launched in 1997 and 1998. Here we present data regarding adverse events that were reported in the second pilot J-PEM study where losartan was compared with ACE inhibitors and dihydropyridine calcium channel antagonists. We conducted a cohort study with a ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate renal function and whether captopril prevents alterations in the handling of sodium and water in the ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) in the rabbit. DESIGN: Experimental study SETTING: Physiology laboratory. ANIMAL(S): Six female New Zealand white rabbits were used as controls, and 13 were hyperstimulated with gonadotropins. INTERVENTION(S): ...

BACKGROUND: The abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) is a recognized complication of damage control surgery (DCS). The purposes of this study were to (1) determine the effect of ACS on outcome after DCS, (2) identify patients at high risk for the development of ACS, and (3) determine whether ACS can be ...

Reduced conduit arteries flow-dependent dilatation and altered compliance have been described during heart failure. However, the role of shear stress, the relation between endothelial dysfunction and mechanics, and the effect of chronic ACE inhibition on this relationship have not been investigated. The present study was designed to evaluate in heart ...

Vasopeptidase inhibition is a new concept in blood pressure management. A single molecule simultaneously inhibits two enzymes that regulate cardiovascular function: neutral endopeptidase (NEP) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)[1]. Development of vasopeptidase inhibitors stemmed from the need for new and more efficacious antihypertensive agents that not only reduce blood pressure but ...

Vasopeptidase inhibitors are a new class of cardiovascular drug that simultaneously inhibit both neutral endopeptidase and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). They increase the availability of peptides that have vasodilatory and other vascular effects; they also inhibit production of angiotensin II. In animal models vasopeptidase inhibitors decrease blood pressure in low, medium, ...

Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors reduce morbidity and mortality in patients with heart failure and are a first-line therapy for chronic heart failure. However, the first-dose may be associated with asymptomatic or symptomatic hypotension. In previous small series with different ACE inhibitors, different blood pressure responses have been reported. We ...

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors continue to find new uses. The Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation study has demonstrated their wide application as a preventive measure for patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease, but the available clinical trials in hypertensive subjects do not so far suggest any clear superiority over conventional ...

Vasopeptidase inhibitors represent a new class of cardiovascular drugs. They function as a combined angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and neutral endopeptidase (NEP) inhibitor, the latter of which potentiates the actions of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) by minimizing its degradation in the circulation. The consequence of such dual inhibition is a ...

BACKGROUND: [Pro(11)(D)-Ala(12)] angiotensin I is an ACE-resistant substrate specific for chymase. We used this peptide to determine whether a functionally significant non-ACE angiotensin (Ang) II-generating pathway exists in human dorsal hand veins. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using a modified Aellig technique, we studied the response to Ang I and [Pro(11)(D)-Ala(12)] Ang ...

The role of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in cardiac remodelling was studied in isoproterenol-induced cardiac hypertrophy in rats. The effects of captopril and spironolactone were compared. Isoproterenol treatment increased ventricular to body weight ratio (4.6 vs 3.7) and collagen area (22.6 vs 8.2%), and reduced systolic (89.93 vs 107.5 mm Hg) and ...

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) is developing the vasopeptidase inihibitor, omapatrilat, a dual inhibitor of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and neutral endopeptidase (NEP), for the potential treatment of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and heart failure [306287]. An NDA for the use of omapatrilat in hypertension was filed with the FDA and ...

Consumption of pomegranate juice which is rich in tannins, possess anti-atherosclerotic properties which could be related to its potent anti-oxidative characteristics. As some antioxidants were recently shown to reduce blood pressure, we studied the effect of pomegranate juice consumption (50 ml, 1.5mmol of total polyphenols per day, for 2 weeks) ...

The Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation study was a landmark study employing the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor ramipril in a patient population pre-destined for vascular events. This study found that a 10 mg dose of ramipril in comparison with placebo reduced the incidence of death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and death from cardiovascular ...

The blood-pressure-lowering efficacy of both angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) has been clearly demonstrated in recent years, although there is evidence that within the ARB class the individual therapies not necessarily identical in terms of sustained and consistent antihypertensive efficacy over the entire closing period. ...

When angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition first became available to block the renin system, few could have predicted the evolution that would occur in this field. The advent of angiotensin II receptor 1 (AT(1)) blockers has created new opportunities. These agents, including eprosartan, are extraordinarily well tolerated, not only when compared ...

1. Inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) improves symptoms and prognosis in heart failure. The experimental basis for these benefits remains unclear. We examined the effects of inhibition of ACE or blockade of angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor on the haemodynamics, cardiac G-proteins, and collagen synthesis of rats with ...

The preferred initial agents for the treatment of high blood pressure are low-dose thiazide diuretics, beta blockers, calcium antagonists, and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. In high-risk patients, including those with diabetes, renal insufficiency, left ventricular dysfunction, and atherosclerosis, ACE inhibitors may have specific benefit in reducing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. ...

Data concerning the effect of arterial compliance (AC) on hemodynamics during intraaortic balloon counterpulsation (IABC) are lacking. This study examines the effect of AC on acute hemodynamics induced by IABC in 15 patients with post-infarction cardiogenic shock. AC was estimated by aortic pulse wave analysis using the reflection time index ...

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and AT1-receptor antagonists (ARAs) are widely administered to reduce urinary protein loss and slow the progression of proteinuric nephropathy to end-stage renal failure. Our group recently observed that the combination of ACE inhibitors and ARAs may have an additive antiproteinuric effect, which may occur because ACE ...

We have studied the mass currents through a superfluid 3He Josephson weak link in the presence of an externally applied ac pressure modulation. Characteristic changes in the dc mass currents are observed whenever the superfluid Josephson frequency omega(J) is an integer multiple of the ac modulation frequency omega. The measured ...

PURPOSE: A growing body of evidence identifies the renin-angiotensin system as a key factor in the onset and progression of renal damage in chronic partial obstruction, which often represents a complex diagnostic challenge. A prospective study was undertaken to evaluate the role of captopril mercaptoacetyltriglycine-3 (MAG-3) renography as an early ...

Body wasting is a clinical feature of a variety of chronic illnesses including congestive heart failure. The wasting associated with chronic congestive heart failure (cardiac cachexia) has recently been shown to portend a worse prognosis, and it is an independent predictor of mortality. The mechanisms underlying cardiac cachexia are multi-factorial, ...

In the present study, we investigated the involvement of the brain renin-angiotensin system in the effects of central cholinergic stimulation on blood pressure in conscious, freely moving normotensive rats. In the first step, we determined the effects of intracerebroventricular (icv) choline (50, 100 and 150 microg) on blood pressure. Choline ...

Heart failure is associated with a decreased variability in circadian systolic blood pressure. ACE inhibitors have been shown to be beneficial in CHF. However, the effect of the magnitude of the dose of ACE inhibitor on blood pressure variability has not been reported. The objective of this sub-study of the ...

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor imidapril and the calcium antagonist amlodipine on endothelial function before and after 2, 4, 8, 12, 24 and 48 weeks of treatment. BACKGROUND: There are limited data on whether and how long endothelial ...

We compared the effects of an ACE inhibitor, captopril, with those of a DA2-dopaminergic/alpha2-adrenergic receptor agonist (CHF-1024) on neuroendocrine activation and cardiac fibrosis in a model of pressure-overload hypertrophy. Interrenal aortic stenosis was performed in 89 rats, treated with CHF-1024 (0.33, 2 or 6 mg kg(-1) day(-1)), or captopril (1 ...

In both diabetic and nondiabetic renal disease, reducing blood pressure with antihypertensive therapy has beneficial effects on renal function. The key role of the renin-angiotensin system in blood pressure and volume homeostasis has long been established, but its importance for the overall normal functioning of the kidney itself is also ...

Hypertension is a major problem throughout the developed world. Although current antihypertensive treatment regimens reduce morbidity and mortality, patients are often noncompliant, and medications may not completely normalize blood pressure. As a result, current therapy frequently does not prevent or reverse the cardiovascular remodeling that often occurs when blood pressure ...

The mechanisms of action of omapatrilat, an agent that inhibits both neutral endopeptidase 24.11 and angiotensin-converting enzyme, on arterial function in patients with heart failure have not been previously reported. Forty-eight patients in New York Heart Association functional class II to III, left ventricular ejection fraction < or = 40%, ...

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors are renoprotective in diabetes mellitus through their intrarenal hemodynamic effects. Alpha-1 blockade has variable pre- and postglomerular vasodilatory effects dependent upon the stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system. We tested the hypothesis that the two different classes of drugs have similar renal hemodynamic effects when the patients ...

Omapatrilat is the most clinically advanced member of a new class of cardiovascular drugs, vasopeptidase inhibitors. Omapatrilat is a single molecule that simultaneously inhibits neutral endopeptidase and angiotensin-converting enzyme, thus preserving vasodilator peptides and inhibiting production of the vasoconstrictor angiotensin II. In healthy male volunteers, omapatrilat decreased blood pressure while ...

Omapatrilat is the most clinically advanced member of a new class of cardiovascular agents known as vasopeptidase inhibitors. Omapatrilat acts by inhibiting two key enzymes responsible for blood pressure regulation: neutral endopeptidase and angiotensin-converting enzyme. Omapatrilat provides dose-related reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure with an excellent trough-to-peak ratio ...

The aim of the present study was to assess the possible differences in hemodynamic and neurohumoral responses to local ACE inhibition in the human forearm of patients with essential hypertension with either quinaprilat or enalaprilat. Forearm vascular responses to infusion of quinaprilat or enalaprilat (0.5 microg/dL/min) into the brachial artery ...

Because part of the cardioprotective effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors results from their protective effects on cardiac bradykinin (BK) metabolism, the purpose of this study was to define the metabolism of BK in normal and failing human hearts and to compare the effect of omapatrilat, a vasopeptidase inhibitor (VPI), ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the behavior of blood pressure during exercise in patients with hypertension controlled by frontline antihypertension drugs. METHODS: From 979ergometric tests we retrospectively selected 49 hypertensive patients (19 males). The age was 53+/-12 years old and normal range rest arterial pressure (< or = 140/90 mmHg) all on ...